Ed Bark

Murder in the First looks to have sturdy underpinnings. Bochco at this point has been around too long to learn entirely new tricks. Still, this is easily his best new series since NYPD Blue tried to break molds more than two decades ago.

Kyle Anderson

With a season-long focus on a single case, the story has plenty of breathing room, and the San Francisco setting feels particularly natural. As unnecessary things go, Murder is exquisite. [13 Jun 2014, p.75]

Mary McNamara

Murder in the First, a masterfully paced balance of tricky whodunit and character development, seems to have benefited from both Bochco's hits and the misses, as well as the cable-led experimentation with shorter seasons.

David Wiegand

Gail Pennington

Nobody is likely to remember Murder in the First 18 years from now, as TV aficionados do "Murder One." But viewers who want to watch a mystery unfold and follow the twists and turns without having to sweat it should be more than satisfied.

Verne Gay

Brian Tallerico

Bochco and his team of writers find more character depth than we commonly see on TNT & USA programming, which is nice, but the show does feel a little flatter and more predictable than fans of Bochco’s best shows may expect. The mystery may be dull but the cast finds a way to elevate it.

Mark A. Perigard

Matthew Gilbert

The characters may be shallow, but that doesn’t keep the show from giving the easy pleasures of reading a quickie mystery novel. And a few of the actors are entertaining despite the limitations of the script.

Tom Long

Rob Owen

Viewers who crave a nostalgic kick for single-case crime dramas of the late 1990s might find something to like here but for viewers seeking a more contemporary style of storytelling, there are no TV firsts in Murder in the First.